Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| All*,† (n = 243) | Pre-QI (n = 120) | Post-QI (n = 123) | P Value‡ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (IQR), yr | 49 (40, 59) | 48 (40, 57) | 51 (37, 63) | 0.163 |
| Female, n (%) | 127 (52) | 57 (47) | 70 (57) | 0.142 |
| White race, n (%) | 106 (44) | 47 (39) | 59 (48) | 0.167 |
| BMI, median (IQR) | 26 (22, 32) | 27 (23, 32) | 26 (22, 32) | 0.601 |
| BMI ≥ 30, n (%) | 97 (40) | 43 (36) | 54 (44) | 0.238 |
| Charlson comorbidity index, median (IQR) | 2 (1, 4) | 3 (1, 5) | 2 (0, 4) | <0.001 |
| Functional comorbidity index, median (IQR) | 1 (1, 3) | 1 (1, 2) | 1 (1, 3) | 0.164 |
| ICU admission source, n (%) | 0.025 | |||
| Emergency room | 63 (26) | 33 (28) | 30 (24) | |
| Ward | 106 (44) | 61 (51) | 45 (37) | |
| Other ICU | 10 (4) | 4 (3) | 6 (5) | |
| Other hospital | 64 (26) | 22 (18) | 42 (34) | |
| ICU admission diagnosis, n (%) | 0.069 | |||
| Respiratory (including pneumonia) | 149 (61) | 80 (67) | 69 (56) | |
| Sepsis/infectious disease | 47 (19) | 18 (15) | 29 (24) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 25 (10) | 14 (12) | 11 (9) | |
| Cardiovascular | 6 (2) | 4 (3) | 2 (2) | |
| Central nervous system | 4 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | |
| Other | 12 (5) | 2 (2) | 10 (8) | |
| APACHE II at ICU admission, median (IQR) | 29 (24, 35) | 29 (23, 36) | 29 (25, 35) | 0.906 |
| SOFA-Respiratory score Day 1, median (IQR) | 3 (3, 4) | 4 (3, 4) | 3 (3, 4) | 0.079 |
| PaO2/FiO2 on Day 1, n (%) | 0.109 | |||
| ≥200 | 20 (8) | 10 (9) | 10 (9) | |
| ≥100 and <200 | 105 (46) | 46 (39) | 59 (52) | |
| <100 | 105 (46) | 61 (52) | 44 (39) | |
| Mean daily SOFA score, median (IQR) | 10 (6, 14) | 10 (6, 15) | 10 (7, 13) | 0.980 |
| Proportion of ICU days on mechanical ventilation, median (IQR) | 83 (67, 95) | 80 (67, 91) | 86 (67, 100) | 0.047 |
| Average FiO2, median (IQR)§ | 54 (44, 67) | 52 (43, 63) | 56 (47, 68) | 0.065 |
| Average PEEP, median (IQR)§ | 6.9 (5.0, 9.3) | 6.7 (5.0, 9.3) | 7.3 (5.0, 9.3) | 0.322 |
| Proportion of ICU days on benzodiazepine infusion, median (IQR) | 60 (29, 100) | 72 (49, 100) | 50 (0, 100) | <0.001 |
| Proportion of ICU days on opioid infusion, median (IQR) | 74 (39, 100) | 80 (50, 100) | 67 (14, 100) | 0.056 |
| Average RASS, median (IQR)§,|| | −2.9 (−3.9, −1.7) | −3.2 (−4.3, −2.4) | −2.1 (−3.5, −1.0) | 0.001 |
| Proportion of ICU days, median (IQR)|| | ||||
| Awake | 26 (0, 50) | 21 (2, 40) | 33 (0, 67) | 0.093 |
| Lightly sedated | 14 (0, 32) | 11 (0, 26) | 20 (0, 35) | 0.334 |
| Deeply sedated/comatose | 51 (17, 81) | 60 (38, 88) | 33 (0, 70) | <0.001 |
| Proportion of ICU days with delirium, median (IQR)§ | 32 (10, 56) | 25 (9, 42) | 43 (17, 75) | 0.008 |
Definition of abbreviations: APACHE II = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II; BMI = body mass index; ICU = intensive care unit; IQR = interquartile range; PEEP = positive end-expiratory pressure; QI = quality improvement; RASS = Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale; SOFA = Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
All time-varying data, except when indicated as Day 1 of acute lung injury (ALI), are from date of ALI to date of first physical therapy or ICU discharge.
Missing data pre-QI/post-QI: BMI, 2 of 20; Day 1 Sofa Respiratory Score (P/F), 3 of 10; FiO2,1 of 6; PEEP, 1 of 9; RASS, 0 of 3.
Comparing pre-QI and post-QI groups and calculated using Pearson chi-square, Fisher exact, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, as appropriate.
Variable was averaged for each patient from the date of ALI to the date of first physical therapy, death, or ICU discharge, whichever came first, and then the median (IQR) of the averages across all patients was reported.
Patient sedation status was classified as follows: awake (RASS ≥ −1), lightly sedated (RASS, −2 or −3), or deeply sedated/comatose (RASS, −4 or −5). Five imputed datasets were used to address missing data for RASS and Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU in the pre-QI group; the data presented represents the mean value for the median (IQR) of the five datasets using a pooled Z score to obtain the P values (69).